The ordeals and stresses of the first year of teaching have often been cited as reasons why many new teachers become discouraged and even abandon their teaching careers. One strategy that has proven successful in providing support to novice teachers is to match them with experienced classroom teachers, or mentors, in order to ease their induction into teaching. Mentoring also provides a meaningful challenge for experienced successful teachers.

As more districts begin to implement mentoring and induction programs, they will need information and models to answer basic questions regarding how mentors are selected and how schools can provide training and support to all personnel involved in such programs. This book provides an overview of the induction into teaching and mentoring processes, describes five effective school-based models, and reports the results of a large-scale study of those elements found to be most helpful by experienced mentor teachers.

Gary P. DeBolt is Assistant Professor of Education at the State University of New York, Geneseo.